Troubled waters, p.10
Troubled Waters, page 10
Macey hesitated. She’d geared herself up for a debate, and now he was offering her a beverage? “Tea sounds good.”
She stepped farther into the living area. A large television, two leather sofas, and three antique-looking side tables occupied the room. Fresh flowers in what appeared to be an expensive vase sat on one table, while the two others had only coasters or magazines on them. On the opposite side, across from the living area, was the dining room. The polished mahogany table and chairs shined in the natural light, with another fresh arrangement of flowers placed perfectly as a centerpiece. She strolled carefully between the two areas and into the kitchen, where Noah was busy making tea.
Macey leaned on the large butcher-block island in the middle of the kitchen and watched him drop fresh mint into the crystal pitcher. She was astonished at the wealth inside the home. When she’d first met him, she’d figured he was a poor struggling farmer or mechanic who painted for a hobby. Now she was starting to suspect something different. She just didn’t know what.
“Your home is beautiful,” she said.
“Thank you.” He handed her a glass of tea, lightly sweetened with raspberry. “Is it like you remember it?”
Macey shook her head. “Not at all. I remember it as a dump. I can’t believe you were able to restore it like this.”
He winked and said, “I’m pretty handy with a hammer and saw.”
Macey turned and took in the main rooms again. “I like how open it is, how the sunlight pours in through the windows.”
“It was my wife’s idea not to have any shades or curtains. She loved natural light.”
Macey stayed facing away from him, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of his poor wife dying. She walked over to the dining room, where a large mahogany buffet sat with pictures crowded together on its top. She picked up a picture of Noah standing next to a tall, blond, fresh-faced woman wearing an expensive-looking pantsuit and gold jewelry. He had his arm around her, and his hair was quite a bit shorter.
“That’s Emily,” he said.
Macey jumped, not realizing Noah was behind her. He slowly took the photo from her and looked at it himself, as if he’d never seen it before. He smiled before putting it back on the buffet.
“She was beautiful,” Macey managed, her eyes scanning the rest of the photos. “How did she die?”
Noah walked back to the kitchen for his glass. “During childbirth. She was actually carrying triplets. One of them died, too. Her name was Sierra.”
Macey shook her head as she picked up a picture of the two identical girls, who looked to be about two years old at the time the picture was taken. They were hugging each other in the middle of a wild-flower field. “I’m so sorry.”
She could hear the sound of more tea being poured into his glass. “Actually it brings me great comfort.” Macey turned around, and Noah explained. “To know Emily and Sierra are together in heaven—they have each other there. And we have each other here. Someday we’ll all be together again.” Noah brought the pitcher over to Macey and refilled her glass. “The girls know they have a sister. They knew it long before I had a chance to explain it. It was strange. Every time they’d play dolls or have a tea party, there would always be a third place set, and when I asked who it was for, they’d say their sister.” He shrugged and walked back to the kitchen to set the pitcher down. “How’s the tea?”
“Amazing. Tastes like raspberries.”
“I have raspberry bushes on the west side of the house. Your mom has made some great raspberry cobblers out of them.”
Macey smiled and then sipped the tea again, thinking how wonderful it would be to have her own raspberry bushes.
“Let me give you the tour,” said Noah. He was halfway to the stairs when he noticed she’d hesitated and wasn’t following him. “You remember when these were collapsed?”
Macey laughed. “Sure do. And the ones that remained looked like they couldn’t hold the weight of an ant.”
They walked up together. Directly at the top was the girls’ room, painted pastel colors and adorned with frilly lace, the exact replica of a dollhouse. Macey gasped in amazement. “What a fairy tale!”
Noah opened the door wider and motioned for her to step in. Hundreds of dolls and stuffed animals lined the shelves all around the room. Golden butterflies painted delicately on one wall seemed alive with motion. Two twin-sized beds on opposite sides of the room had plush white comforters and three or four pillows each. Noah walked to a bed and straightened one pillow a little. “This was all Emily’s doing. She had the vision for it and made it happen.”
“How old are your girls?”
“Six. They’re small for their age. But they have the personalities to make up for it.”
Noah went on to show her the upstairs bathroom, his bedroom, and the girls’ playroom—a giant room filled with toys—all the while explaining how each room was transformed and what they had done to make it special and unique.
They walked back downstairs, where Noah, with Macey right behind him, rounded the corner of the stairwell and opened the door beneath it.
“This is my studio.”
Canvas, easels, brushes, tubes, rags, and other paint supplies cluttered the room in a semiorganized fashion. Noah waited for her to come in, but Macey couldn’t take another step forward. Displayed before her were beautiful landscapes, breathtaking colors, serenity caught on canvas, yet all she could see was darkness. Her stomach cramped as painful memories surged through her mind. She backed out of the room and went to the front door. Noah followed her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his large hand on the small of her back.
“Fine.” She forced a pleasant smile. “I just realized I should go check on my mom. I didn’t even tell her where I was going.”
“Of course,” Noah said, opening the door for her. The heat had increased dramatically since she’d entered the house, and it surprised her as she tried to catch her breath. “I’ll walk over with you. I have to get the girls.”
They strolled in silence, and Macey appreciated the way this man could somehow sense she didn’t want to talk right now. On Stone Bridge they stopped for a moment to look and listen to the river and then continued on. As they made their way toward the farmhouse, the innocent giggling of the twin girls brought their attention to the tree with the tree house, where the girls were hanging like monkeys from the lower limbs. Noah and Macey laughed at the sight.
Macey could already tell that many people had left the house. She heaved a sigh of relief. Noah looked down at her, seemingly reading her mind.
“Looks like the crowd’s thinning,” he said.
Macey nodded and tried hard not to make a cynical remark. Instead, she made an impulsive request. “Come to dinner tomorrow? You and the girls?”
Noah glanced down at her again, his eyebrows raised. She was about to give an explanation as to why she had asked him when he said, “You cook?”
Macey bit her lower lip. No, she didn’t cook. And no, there wasn’t a Boston Market down the road. Her heart raced. “Surprised?”
“You just don’t seem like the type that cooks.”
“Well, maybe you’ve got me pegged all wrong.”
“Maybe,” Noah said as they approached the porch steps. “But are you sure your mom’s up for more company?” They both glanced through the back window, finding a group of guests pressing in around Evelyn as if she were a celebrity.
“I don’t think she’d have it any other way.”
Ten
Evelyn stood a few feet away, watching her daughter carefully organize and then nervously reorganize all the ingredients on the counter top. Without turning around, Macey said, “Mom, please go and lie down. You’ve had an emotional couple of days.”
“I’m fine. Stop fussing over me. Everyone has been fussing over me.” Evelyn went to the refrigerator for a cold glass of water. “Tell me again what you’re making?”
“Nothing fancy,” her daughter said, rearranging the ingredients again. “Just spaghetti and some French bread. Green beans. That and a little wine should make for a nice meal.”
Evelyn sat down at the kitchen table, her legs shaking from exhaustion. The truth was, she had never been more tired, but she didn’t want to miss any opportunity to spend time with her daughter. Last night she’d gone to bed early after sorting through some more of Jess’s things. She’d woken up seven or eight times throughout the night and then risen early, before the sun, just to get away from her tortured sleep.
She’d spent the day with Macey as they’d sifted through Jess’s old books and collectibles, deciding what to keep and what to give away. It had felt good to spend the quiet time with her daughter, even given the painful circumstances of their task.
“I’ve never had canned spaghetti sauce before,” Evelyn said, and Macey turned around, a scowl bunching up her features. “Is it good?”
“I like it,” she answered flatly.
“Does it come with meat?”
“No, Mother. Not every meal has to have meat. I have freshly shaved Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, and parsley. I plan to make garlic bread.”
“Goodness, I hate for you to have spent all the money. We have fresh tomatoes and oregano out back. We could’ve just whipped up our own sauce, let it be simmerin’ all day. And I’ve got beef in the freezer in the garage we could’ve thawed.”
Macey held up her hands. “Mom. Please. I’m preparing a simple, inexpensive meal. You should learn to do the same. Not every meal has to be an event.” Macey was chopping the parsley furiously, so Evelyn sat and sipped her water for a minute.
Then she said, “Well, I’m just so happy you got a chance to meet Noah. He’s just as sweet as can be. Those little girls are just dolls. I’m glad you invited him to dinner.”
“He told me his wife died.”
“It was so tragic. She passed on shortly after he and his wife fixed up the house. She was a lovely young lady. Noah had the funeral elsewhere, since they didn’t know too many people around these parts yet. But he stayed living here and has been raisin’ the girls just the best that he knows how, and he’s doin’ a good job of it, too.”
“Where did they move from?” Macey asked, rinsing mushrooms under a stream of water at the sink.
“New York City,” Evelyn answered. Macey turned around while wiping her hands with a dishrag, her eyes large and quizzical. “Yes, they were apparently tired of the big city life and wanted to get away from it all. It was quite a change for them, but when we found out who he was, we all were just so excited to have him living here.”
Macey set the dishrag down and frowned. “Who is he?”
“He didn’t tell you?” Evelyn shook her head, laughed and took a gulp of her water. “That boy’s a humble one.”
“Who is he?”
“Well, I’d never heard of him before, but apparently he’s some big artist. That’s according to Louise Belltrap, do you remember her? Her husband was the—” Evelyn sensed her daughter’s impatience and continued, “Anyhow, she follows art and says he’s very well known, and his oil paintings have sold all around the world. Anyone who knows anything about art knows—”
Macey almost dropped the knife she’d just picked up. “Kauffman!” She walked forward, her eyes wide with disbelief. “He’s Noah Kauffman?”
“You know him?”
Macey threw her head back with laughter. “I know of him. I was at a fund-raising auction once, where one of his paintings sold for fifty thousand dollars. He wasn’t quite as well known then, but I’ve heard him mentioned here and there over the years. He’s definitely established a name for himself.” She covered her mouth, her head still shaking with disbelief. “That explains the house.”
“Oh! Did you get to see the inside? Wonderful, isn’t it?”
Macey nodded and went back to chopping mushrooms. “I can’t believe it. He’s the Noah Kauffman.”
Evelyn shrugged, walking to the fridge to refill her glass. “Well, he’s mostly just known as Noah around here. He doesn’t want to be treated special, and we’ve never taken to treatin’ him special. ’Course, his girls are spoiled rotten because of us, but that’s another story.” She poured a glass of water for Macey and started a fresh pot of coffee. Her eyes stung with exhaustion, yet she was still exhilarated by being in the presence of her daughter. “What did you think of our little grocery store?”
Macey smiled. “It was fine—it had everything I needed. Not quite the selection I’m used to, but who needs five hundred varieties of spaghetti sauce, anyway?” She wiped the counter with the dishrag and then sat down at the kitchen table and glanced at her watch. “We have a couple of hours before they’ll be here.” She picked at a hangnail and said, “I thought the funeral was nice.”
“It was, it was,” Evelyn said with a deep nod of her head. “Everyone was so kind. They always are.” The coffee began dripping, filling the room with the soothing aroma.
“The graveside was nice, too.”
“Yes. It was hot, but the shade from the tree sure helped.”
“It did. I noticed that.”
Each sipped her water, Macey at the table and Evelyn at the counter. They stared out separate windows for a while. A crow was making a furious racket out the front window, and Evelyn smiled a little at the thought of how much her husband used to hate crows.
“Mom, I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Evelyn set her glass down. “So soon?”
“I have a job. They expect me back, you know. I’m sorry. I wish I could stay.”
Evelyn’s eyes moistened, but she nodded and tried to smile. “I understand. You’re a busy woman. That’s good. I’m glad you’re successful in what you love to do.”
“I’ll call, though. I promise. And write. Maybe I can arrange for you to come out and see me sometime.”
“I’m not the big city type. You know me.” She turned to the sink, hoping to find some dishes that needed washing. There were only a couple of bowls and spoons. She took up the rag and started scrubbing them.
“But before I leave,” her daughter said as she stood and approached the sink, “I want to make sure your finances are in order. Did Dad have a will?”
Evelyn sloshed the soapy water around in the bowl. “A will? I don’t know, dear.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Macey scratch her head. She then said, “We need to find that out. We’re going to need to know exactly what your assets are. And over the next few months, I can help you decide what you want to do and where you want to put your money. I’ve got an excellent financial planner, and I can get his help in all this. Some things are going to have to change in your finances, Mom. Okay?”
Evelyn nodded but wasn’t sure what Macey was talking about. Jess always handled the money. She never had a thing to do with it.
“Do you know of any IRAs? Maybe some CDs or bonds? Stocks?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about property? Do we still have that land on Frontage?”
“It’s good for nothing as far as I know.” Evelyn handed the bowl to Macey to dry. “We need to check and see if your tick bite’s infected. You’re not feeling like the flu, are you? If so, we should take you to the doctor.”
“Mom, don’t change the subject.” Macey put the bowl in the cabinet and turned to Evelyn. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to overwhelm you. Let’s just forget about it until after dinner. After Noah and the girls are gone, we’ll sit down and go through everything.”
Evelyn agreed, thought about pouring herself a cup of coffee, then changed her mind. She didn’t even have the energy to do that. She was glad Macey was fixing dinner, even if it consisted of canned spaghetti sauce.
“Mom? You okay?”
She felt Macey grab her elbow and realized she might have just nodded off while standing up. “Fine,” she mumbled, but Macey was already guiding her toward the stairs to help her up to her bedroom.
“You’re not fine,” Macey lectured as they slowly made their way to the room. Macey continued to hold on to her until they made it to the bed.
“Oh, my feet,” Evelyn moaned.
Macey quickly bent down and removed her mom’s shoes. She took Evelyn’s feet and steered them up onto the bed, placing a pillow underneath them, and fluffed a second pillow for her head. “You must rest,” she said sternly.
Evelyn looked to the other side of the room where Jess’s wheelchair and hospital bed used to sit. She’d grown so accustomed to the clutter that the room now looked open and empty. Her hand moved to the vacant side of the bed. She’d had to sleep alone since his move to the hospital bed, but it crushed her that she’d be sleeping in this bed, in this house, all alone from now on. She tightly closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay and heard Macey quietly shut the door as she left.
Tomorrow she would go and put fresh flowers on the grave and make sure everything was in order. Though it was nonsense to think of Jess lying still under all that dirt, she would do it nevertheless. She didn’t know what else she was going to do with her time.
As her eyelids became heavier and her mind swirled with indiscernible images, she wondered briefly if this were all just a dream. Perhaps she would awaken and life would be normal again. But, before drifting off, her last thought was of heaven and that maybe it would be better if she awoke there instead.
———
The spaghetti sauce popped and sputtered itself out of the saucepan and onto the stove top, while Macey frantically tried to reach around it and turn the heat down. It was too late, though. The stove top was splattered with bright red Ragu sauce as were her silk top and khaki shorts. She seethed with anger, throwing down the saucepan lid and grabbing at a dishrag. She couldn’t even prepare a simple meal such as spaghetti without making a mess!
